Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Black Market Kitten

I've never had to look for a cat. All my life, they've come to me: a neighbor, sister, friend with kittens, a stray welcoming himself in on my birthday, etc. This time I called a local cat-rescue organization, and was told that they would not let me adopt from them because I already had adult cats. WTF? I came home from work today with one adult cat asleep on my son's lap, the kitten perched on his neck, another adult cat snoring on the sofa. Problem? None that I can see. I've always done it this way. And it's always worked.

Another kitten-adoption site required pre-adoption paperwork, including an agreement I had to sign, and at the bottom it said: This is a Legal and Binding Document. Um. Don't think so. The irony here, of course, is that any woman of child-bearing age can get herself knocked up any old time, but just dare her to try to adopt a kitten! It's PETA gone wild.

This time, as always, the kitten came to me. I'd put out "feelers", and my younger son, in one of his forays to, as he said "check out the hot chicks", heard a "hot chick" mention kittens. KITTENS! His kitten radar picked up the signal, we hooked up (but not N. and the Hot Chick), and Sunday the Hot Chick and I met for the Kitten Exchange. It all felt very Black Market, after the shenanigans I went through with the Official Kitten Adoption Agencies.

And there was no "re-homing" fee. Re-homing! Who thought of this one?! I "rehomed" myself about a month ago. And honestly, I should've collected a massive fee. Like, a pay-off-my-mortgage-fee. Just sayin'. I had to adopt myself. Still waiting to sign the agreement, which, in this case, will be a legal document.

Anyway, this new kitten is probably the best tonic for this battered soul. Her purr rumbles up and out of her tiny bone-and-fur framework, impossibly loud for such a wee thing. She screams when I pick her up. Mutters and squeaks at other times.

p.s. I think the reason why the adoption of either cats and dogs (or even babies) is made so complicated, is that if they gave them all away they'd be out of a job. It's also a 'power' kick. Assessing people makes them seem superior (or so they think).

I just sent in my volunteer application to SPCA so I can hang out with animals again...losing mine in the divorce has been a blow. I've adopted through SPCA and various rescue orgs, and it is indeed an interrogation! But I understand where they are coming from: many of these animals have been through the wringer already and they are trying to place them into good homes.

Congrats on your under-the-table-but-perfectly-legal adoption. You are already reaping huge rewards for this new love in your life. I'm very happy for you - and Lucy!

"What is the meaning of life? That was all — a simple question; one that tended to close in on one with years. The great revelation had never come. The great revelation perhaps never did come. Instead there were little daily miracles, illuminations, matches struck unexpectedly in the dark. . . . "—Virginia Woolf, To The Lighthouse"Like other poets, I am often asked if I have a spiritual practice. Yes, writing is my spiritual practice."— Alicia Ostriker

"The trick, Gloria thought as she experienced near-whiplash at the revelation, was to keep the level of believing in magic constant."—Marylinn Kelly

"Everywhere I go I find a poet has been there before me."—Sigmund Freud

"...and following the wrong god home we may miss our star."—William Stafford

"I am in love with the world.""—Maurice Sendak

“I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world.” —Rainier Maria Rilke"Writing means revealing oneself to excess."--Franz Kafka"There isn't enough of anything as long as we live. But at intervals a sweetness appears and, given a chance prevails. " --Raymond Carver"Someone I loved once gave mea box full of darkness.It took me years to understandthat this, too, was a gift. "--Mary Oliver"In the middle of the journey of our lifeI found myself in a dark wood,For I had lost the right path.And so we came forth, and once again beheld the stars." --Dante Alighieri